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Post by tony on Nov 1, 2010 10:40:48 GMT -5
Make a roaster.... Its a lot cheaper and when it breaks atleast you know how to fix it. If your interested, I can send you some pics of mine you can work off.. T
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Post by beanless on Nov 4, 2010 17:16:06 GMT -5
Having taken Brad's comments on board regarding looking for cheaper alternatives to roasters I was wondering if anyone has considered one of these rotisseries? www.hennypenny.com/documents/products/SCR-6%20data%20sheet%2011.26.07.pdfI was thinking a stainless cage could be put around it giving you a drum roaster. Not sure but maybe it would be possible to put an entry through the side to enable bean sampling during the roast. We have access to a second hand one for a reasonable price as these things new are ridiculously expensive! Thoughts anyone?
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Post by beanless on Nov 24, 2010 19:56:30 GMT -5
Hey guys - is anyone out there?
I'm running out of time and soon need to make a decision on the Henny Penny Rotisserie listed above. I'm not much of a techno or engineer but I think it will work nicely as a drum roaster - if anyone has some serious doubts/concerns that it will work I would really appreciate any comments.
Ali
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Post by oaxacalote on Nov 25, 2010 12:23:08 GMT -5
We're looking into a roaster ourselves, but I do not have experience building or using a larger scale one. My quick read on the rotisserie:
Pros: - Food safe, sturdy, commerical roasting device - should be well insulated for heating efficiency - Rotisserie speed is appropriate for drum roasting
Cons - It's electric rather than gas, which means higher cost of operation in most places. - The cage you build to turn these spits into a drum may be too tall, resulting in broken beans from the fall. A solution to this was proposed by someone on this board that converted a gas dryer into a roaster, but it will add complexity and cost to your build. - How will you empty the hot beans out for cooling? - On a used device your cacao may taste like roasted chicken due to grease build up!
I didn't look at the dimensions, but you'll definitely want to estimate the amount of beans you can roast in it in order to determine if its cost effective for your production. The cost of the machine is probably pretty insignificant compared to the amount of time you'll be paying someone to watch it roast beans if the batch size is too small for your production scheme.
Hope this is helpful!
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Post by beanless on Nov 25, 2010 17:30:12 GMT -5
Thanks for the comments - it's great to get another set of questions I hadn't thought of.
I'm hoping that roasting 20kg will fill the cage enough to reduce the tumble height - but will research that a bit more. The stainless interior should be cleanable to remove any chicken smell - although chocolate with a hint of roast chicken could be a new angle!! The cage will have a full width sliding or folding door for loading/unloading.
thanks again
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